It´s with my feet back in Portugal that I’m writing today, still settling from the jet lag and the distance. The end of last week was a swirl of emotions, preparing the return, heart felt hugs and a long and exhausting trip back. But among the craziness of those days, two great things happened and I can’t wait to tell you all about it.

If you just want to read the recipe skip to the last paragraphs 😉

First, My tiny green Kitchen has a logo now! I felt it needed its own image so here it is. It’s also possible that the blog goes under a little makeover but not just yet. The logo was designed by Vanessa Liberato Capelas that designs and illustrates super cool things, check her page and I’m sure you will agree. I would love to know your opinion about the logo so do not be shy and let me know in the comment box bellow.

Also I received a wonderfully nice message by Millie of miliesfeuille nominating me for the Liebstar awards. This is a lovely way for the blogger community to get to know each other and give a little bit of love to the new blogs. What a great idea and I’m so thankful to Millie for choosing me and for letting me know a bunch of new and exciting blogs. And if you don’t know Millie’s blog yet, do check it, there are some delicious recipes, beautiful photos and lovely writing over there.

So the idea with the Liebstar awards is to nominee 10 new blogs, answer the questions by the blogger who nominated you and ask 10 new questions to your nominees.

What made you want to start blogging? I wanted to share my love for cooking, photographing and writing, and the blog was the perfect way to combine all those 3 loves.

If you could change one thing about your blog what would it be, and why? I would like to have a little button for the reader to choose the Portuguese or the English version, because I feel it would make it more user friendly.

What is your favorite album to listen to in the kitchen? I can’t think of an album but I listen to a lot of Bossa Nova when cooking.

What is your go-to cook book? They go on changing but these days it is Amy Chaplin’s At home in the whole food kitchen.

If you had the chance to live abroad for a year, where would you go and why? Vancouver, I just came back from Canada and even though I haven’t been to Vancouver I heard it is an amazing city to live in.

Who do you most admire in life? This is a hard one. I am lucky to have a few friends I admire immensely, they are the kind of people who are not afraid of being themselves. And that is a very admirable thing, I believe.

What are your three favorite books to read? Only three??? These are some of my favorites and all by Portuguese speaking authors: Pensar by Vergílio Ferreira, Poesia by Eugénio de Andrade, O Filho de Mil Homens by Valter Hugo Mães.

If you could spend the day cooking with a chef of your choice, who would it be and why? Amy Chaplin, because I can’t stop reading her book and I really like her cooking style.

What new skill would you like to learn and why? Ice skating, going back to my recent trip to Canada I felt quite disappointed at myself for not being able to ice skate, it’s much harder than what it looks.

What was one of your most defining moments in life? The moment I decided to travel alone for the first time.

My questions to the nominees:

What is your oldest cooking memory?

If you could eat in any restaurant in the world, what would it be?

Savory or sweet?

What are your 10 must have food items?

Who is your favorite cook in the world?

What was your favorite trip so far?

What was the wackiest food combo you have ever tried?

What is your favorite thing about blogging?

Where will you travel next?

What is your favorite season and why.

And back to Kitchari, a perfect dish for a return from a big trip and all the necessary adjustments. For those of you that have never heard of Kitchari, this is an Indian dish considered therapeutic by the ayurvedic tradition. I am not by any means an expert on Indian cuisine, so it wasn’t until quite recent that I got to know kitchari. It was M. (that absolutely loves Indian cuisine) that introduced me to this dish and its benefits. Kitchari it is said to help when you’re feeling under the weather, when your digestion is upset or even when you need to detox. If you go to the ingredients it may sound odd how something that simple can do so much good, but believe me it does.

Airplane travelling and changing time zones are very harsh on our system, so as soon as I came back I immediately thought about making a bowl of kitchari to nourish and balance. It works! And not only it makes you feel better, it also tastes great. The texture is very similar to porridge but full of flavor from the spices and the fresh ginger. It truly is a bowl of comfort. Try it!

Ingredients

(for 2)

2/3 cup of mung dal

½ cup basmati rice

1 tsp of ghee (or coconut oil if you’re vegan)

2 bay leaves

1 cinnamon stick

1 tsp mustard seeds*

1 tsp of cumin seeds

1tsp of tumeric

1 0,5cm piece of fresh ginger

1 small onion

2 garlic cloves

1 small handful of fresh coriander leaves

1 small piece of kombu

1 lemon

2 handfuls of spinach (optional)

1 tsp of sesame seeds (optional)

1 tbsp of cashew chopped (optional)

Soak the lentils and rice in abundant filtered water for, at least, 1 hour. Rinse and putt it in a pan with 4 times the amount of filtered water (4 2/3 cups) along with the bay, kombu and half the cinnamon stick. Allow it to cook until all water gets absorbed and it’s all mushy, around 25 minutes or 10 if you use a pressure cooker.

Meanwhile melt the ghee in a frying pan with the spices (including the other half of the cinnamon stick) allowing to release their aromas. Chop the onion, garlic and ginger and add to the pan along with a pinch of salt. Allow the onion to soften. Add the lentils and rice mush, discarding the bay and kombu, to the pan and stir. If you are adding spinach this is the moment to do it. Season with lemon juice and more salt if it needs it. Cook stirring for 3 more minutes and it is ready to serve.Sprinkle with the coriander, the sesame seeds and cashews if you like.

* If you don’t have all of these spices and want to try the recipe just use the curry mix you have at home.

Hey Inês! Congrats on your award and thanks again for thinking of us. Ice skating is awesome! I was fortunate enough to grow up in Canada and have lovely memories of ice skating, but Alex would definitely agree with you (it’s a lot harder than it looks but it’s still a lot of fun!). Your Kitchari looks divine, it’s definitely our kind of meal; we love all those spices! We can’t wait to try it. x

Thank you guys and you are welcome 🙂
Oh that is awsome, I have been enjoying my trips to Canada very much and hopefully one day I’ll get to ice-skate and say it is fun not just frightening 😉
And thank you so much, I love kitchari and it was simply perfect to recover from jet lag. If you do try it, let me know if you liked it 🙂 🙂 sending a big hug to both of you

I’m also in the process of redoing my blog and logo. SO exciting 🙂
Love the Liebster Award. Ksenia from At The Immigrant’s Table nominated me and it was the start of a lovely on-line friendship.
thanks for sharing this recipe and welcome back to Europe